ACPS students honored for STEM projects

Four Alachua County middle-school students were named semifinalists in the STEM-related Broadcom MASTERS competition.

Deborah Strange @DeborahJStrange

Four Alachua County middle-school students were named semifinalists in the Broadcom MASTERS competition, which focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields.

Lincoln Middle School eighth-graders Anjana Balachandar and Janani Kumaran and Gainesville High School freshmen James Cohan and Jad Helmy are four of 300 semifinalists across the nation.

Balachandar was recognized for her project “High-Fives for Wifi,” and Kumaran was recognized for her project “Can Snails Act as Biological Control Agents for the Aquatic Invasive Plant Hydrilla?” Cohan’s project, “Determining the Optimal Cooking Method and Pan Material for Preserving Nutrients in White Cauliflower,” was recognized, as was Helmy’s “Optimizing and Extending Alzimio to Help Dementia, Autism and Alzheimer’s Patients.”